Classroom bullying sparks teen suicides in Japan

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The first letter arrived nine days ago, sent to Japan’s Education Minister by an anonymous schoolboy in a state of extreme distress.

Bullies were making his life a misery, and he could bear it no longer. He was going to kill himself by the weekend.

The ministry acted immediately, calling a midnight press conference to warn teachers and parents across the country to be on alert and to beg the unidentified child not to give in to despair. It seemed like a bold, timely and potentially life saving decision - no one imagined what the consequences would be.